139 Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC The Divine Mercy Apostolate Divine Mercy Apostolate: a Historical Overview The Divine Mercy Apostolate began in the United States in 1941 as an act of gratitude to God for His extraordinary mercy and protection bestowed upon Fr. Joseph Jarzębowski, MIC. Faced with the growing threat of Soviet arrest, imprisonment, probable deportation to the Siberian gulag, or death for his role as an educator and a prominent clergyman, Fr. Joseph had no means of escape. Inspired and encouraged by his younger confreres to place complete confi dence in God’s Mercy, Fr. Joseph entrusted his life, safety, mission and journey to the United States to the Mercy of God, and promised, that if graced with protection and safe arrival, he would promote the Divine Mercy Message for the rest of his life. Before he set out on this perilous journey without proper documents or suffi cient fi nancial means, he visited Fr. Michael Sopoćko (Sr. Faustina’s spiritual director) and celebrated Mass before the Divine Mercy image. Fr. Michael gave him a copy of his treatise in Latin on the Mercy of God and on the institution of its Feast. The treatise was titled De Misericodia Dei Desque Eiusdem Festo Instituendo. This treatise, known as the Memorandum on the Institution of the Feast of Divine Mercy contained biblical, theological and liturgical teaching on Divine Mercy, as well as, texts from Sister Faustina’s Diary concerning the Divine Mercy Feast, the Chaplet, the Novena, the Litany and the Image. Fr. Michael, confi dent in God’s protection over Fr. Joseph asked him to spread the Memorandum and the Message of Divine Mercy especially among the American hierarchy and clergy. Throughout his long journey that took him through Moscow, Vladivostok and Japan, and fi nally by way of Seattle to Washington, D.C., Fr. Joseph was exposed to many dangers. Yet amidst them all, he experienced extraordinary protection and guidance. Immediately upon arrival at the Community House in Washington, D.C., Fr. Joseph, out of gratitude to God for His wondrous gifts of mercy and protection that he experienced, and, in order to fulfi ll his promise that he made, began to spread the message of God’s Mercy and the need to trust
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